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Payout for patient who received a cancerous transplant.

A 62 year old patient has been awarded a six-figure compensation settlement by the NHS after receiving a cancerous kidney during a transplant.

What happened?

Robert Law from Merseyside was one of two people who received kidneys from woman who had lymphoma back in 2010. He was forced to undergo six cycles of chemotherapy after an autopsy revealed that the donor, who had died in another hospital, had intravascular B cell lymphoma.

Law said about his condition:

“It is like a wasting of the muscles. I don’t have any power. I am on various tablets to take away those pains.

I am glad to be alive and I just get about in a slower fashion. I tend to wear T-shirts or shirts that are already buttoned up for me. Co-ordination is difficult. I am immunosuppressed and I tend to get any and every ailment going.”

What was the outcome?

NHS Blood and Transplant admitted negligence back in 2012. Its chief executive, Lynda Hamlyn, has apologised and claimed that the incident was down to an error by a nurse who had not yet completed her training.

The service acknowledged the lack of communication, and said the kidneys would have certainly been rejected by the surgeon had he had the full details of the donor

Law recently received a six-figure pay out, and the second patient, Gillian Smart from St. Helens, Merseyside, is still negotiating a settlement.

Law went on to say:

“I hope that lessons have been learned from my case and that this has helped to make the system safer by ensuring all medical staff involved with transplants have the training and support they need.

I am extremely grateful for the donated kidney and to the haematology department for their treatment and care for the cancer, but it is just a shame really NHSBT could not say what went wrong.”